Recent growth rate: 300%

Head Office: Dieppe, N.B.
President: Mitch Manuel

How did the company start?
I discovered an innovative way to design information technology. In our programs, the robots read models instead of people. I took a year off of work to perfect the program and eventually started the company. I teamed up with my father, who used to work at the CBC, since he had inside information on the needs of production companies. Our first major client was Harpo Studios, the company that produces The Oprah Show. From there we received contracts from the CBC and the U.S. military.

What’s the most surprising fact on your CV?
When I was 12 I designed programs that would post messages online. They allowed people to post messages on a bulletin board through their modem.

What has been the biggest growth factor?
We know the needs of the industry and we have good cash flow. Patience is also important. Sometimes it can take more than two years to close a deal.

What has been the biggest obstacle that has kept the company from growing even faster?
Growing organically but not at an unsustainable rate. It takes a long time to train people and to begin getting returns. Normally training lasts from six months to two years. It takes two years before people start earning revenue for the company and can work independently. In the long term, the investment pays off. We don’t want to miss opportunities by growing too slowly, but if the growth is too fast there could be a negative impact on the quality of service. There’s no easy answer. We have to take on a little bit of risk and put faith in our employees.

How do you plan to sustain growth over the next five years?
Right now we’re hiring three more employees, since our current demand is exceeding capacity.

What do you look for in an employee?
Teamwork. We want people who are motivated to succeed. Personality counts for more than skills. We can always train someone, but people need the right personality to fit in the company.

On whom do you rely for advice for major life decisions?
My father is one of my greatest mentors. He’s an employee now, which is an interesting dynamic.

What’s your next big professional move?
We want to invest in the warehouse market. For Maritime Storage, we created a single software system for all its IT functions so delivery, purchasing, and accounting are all in one controlled software. It was a great success and an efficient way to run the programs. We think this software would be useful for the food industry.

What’s your next big personal move?
I love being a developer and coder. In the future I want to have a complementary role in the company so I can invest my time in other things.

Your guilty pleasure?
The workload never ends, so I always look forward to taking the boat out during my vacation in the summer.